What We Know about Emotional Intelligence

463 Pages·2009·2.69 MB·English

by  Moshe Zeidner

What We Know about
EMOTIONAL
INTELLIGENCE
How It Affects Learning, Work,
Relationships, and Our Mental Health
MOSHE ZEIDNER, GERALD MATTHEWS,
AND RICHARD D. ROBERTS
What We Know about Emotional Intelligence

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
How It Affects Learning,Work, Relationships, and Our Mental Health
Moshe Zeidner, GeraldMatthews, and Richard D. Roberts
ABradfordBook
TheMITPress
Cambridge,Massachusetts
London,England
62009MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformbyanyelectronicor
mechanicalmeans(includingphotocopying,recording,orinformationstorageandretrieval)
withoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublisher.
MIT Press books may be purchased at special quantity discounts for business or sales
promotionaluse.Forinformation,[email protected]
SpecialSalesDepartment,TheMITPress,55HaywardStreet,Cambridge,MA02142.
This book was set in Times New Roman and Syntax on 3B2 by Asco Typesetters, Hong
KongandwasprintedandboundintheUnitedStatesofAmerica.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Zeidner,Moshe.
Whatweknowaboutemotionalintelligence:howita¤ectslearning,work,relationships,
andourmentalhealth/MosheZeidner,GeraldMatthews,andRichardD.Roberts.
p. cm.
‘‘ABradfordbook.’’
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-0-262-01260-7(hardcover:alk.paper)—ISBN978-0-262-25501-1(el)
1.Emotionalintelligence. I.Matthews,
Gerald. II.Roberts,RichardD. III.Title.
BF576.Z45 2009
152.4—dc22 2008038272
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
to Omer and YairZeidner, with admiration and love
to Diana Ciupka
to Cristina Aicher, Matthew D. Roberts, and Lionel R. Benevides

Contents
ForewordbyJamesAverill ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xvii
I INTRODUCING...EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
1 EmotionalIntelligence:MappingouttheTerrain 3
II EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE: A NEW CONSTRUCT?
2 MeasureforEmotionalIntelligenceMeasures 37
3 TheIntelligenceinEmotionalIntelligence 67
4 ThePersonalityinEmotionalIntelligence 103
III EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE OBSERVED
5 DevelopingEmotionalIntelligence:FromBirthtoEarth 141
6 HowSocialIsEmotionalIntelligence? 169
7 GraceunderPressure:EmotionalIntelligence,Stress,andCoping 203
IV EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN ACTION
8 SchoolingEmotionalIntelligence 225
9 WorkandEmotionalIntelligence 253
10 EmotionalIntelligenceandtheToxicWorkEnvironment 283
11 EmotionalIntelligenceintheClinic 305
viii Contents
V EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE...REVISITED
12 EmotionalIntelligence:Known,Unknown,andFutureDirections 341
GlossaryofTerms 375
References 389
IllustrationCredits 425
Index 427
Foreword
Sir Henry Cavendish (1731–1810) was a brilliant scientist; emotionally,
however, he was a dud. Among other things, he was deathly afraid of
meeting strangers. On one occasion at a meeting, he was introduced with
fanfare to a visiting scientist. Dumbfounded, Cavendish stood with his
head bowed; then, spying an opening in the crowd, he hastily fled to
his carriage. Women, especially, posed a problem. Cavendish had his
house constructed so that he would not meet any female servant; if by
chance one shouldcross hispath,she was dismissed immediately.
Cavendish illustrates one kind of emotional ineptitude—a person who
feels deeply but inappropriately. Another kind is illustrated by the psy-
chopath who is adroit at manipulating the emotions of others, and yet
who is unable to experience emotions himself, whether it be empathy
with the su¤ering of his victims or fear of punishment for causing their
plight. This is not to imply that everyone who is unable to experience
emotion is a psychopath. To take a fictional example with whom many
people sympathize, Mr. Spock of the television series Star Trek lacks
emotion; yet he is a valued colleague on the starship Enterprise. Of
course, Mr. Spock is not entirely human: His father was a Vulcan, an in-
habitant of another planetary system. For better or worse, our emotions,
as much asour intelligence, area sign of our humanity.
About 2,300 years ago Aristotle observed that emotions ‘‘may be felt
both too much and too little, and in both cases not well; but to feel them
at the right times, with reference to the right objects, towards the right
people, with the right motive, and in the right way, is what is both inter-
mediate and best, and this is characteristic of virtue’’ (Nicomachean
Ethics 1106b20). More than of virtue, this is a good description of emo-
tionalintelligence.
As the quote by Aristotle illustrates, emotional intelligence has long
been recognized as an important human characteristic; only within the